This invention relates to providing indicia bearing information as an adjunct to an identification card, and in particular to providing such information which not only contains identification relating to the holder of the card, but also provides a ready means of obtaining the attention of a person looking at the card to advise of the availability of the information.
In a medical emergency, time is of the essence. When a patient is unconscious or otherwise unavailable to assist medical personnel working on that patient, valuable time can be lost if the medical personnel must search for medical data or otherwise seek vital information needed for treating the patient. Therefore, medical identification cards are becoming more prevalent, with the potential patient placing the card in a pursue or wallet so that medical personnel can hopefully locate that information should the bearer not be able to readily provide it. U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,391 is directed to this kind of a card.
While it is advantageous to have medical information available to emergency personnel should a patient not be able to communicate, often a separate card is tucked away in a location that would not normally be investigated by emergency personnel, and therefore that information is not known or communicated. Emergency personnel quite regularly will look to the patient's driver's license or other identification card to obtain personal data regarding the patient, and if medical information were available with the driver's license or identification card, that information would therefore be readily available to the emergency personnel.